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The Yellow Wallpaper
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The Yellow Wallpaper
C. P. Gilman authored a short story entitled "The Yellow Wallpaper,” which was published in the year 1892. The story shed light on the transition of a woman from sanity to insanity when she is confined to her room. The yellow wallpaper in the short story symbolizes women oppression and their transition towards insanity.
The yellow wallpaper is the symbol of women oppression, which sheds light that women have always been confined to their traditional role of homemaking. The author describes that “There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down” (Gilman, 1999, p. 513). It depicts that women are exposed to oppression and forced to live life according to the will of others. The author states that “Up and down and sideways they crawl, and those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere” (Gilman, 1999, p. 514), which sheds light on the fact that the society keeps dictating women about their actions, without acknowledging their will and potential which is actually absurd. Gilman also mentioned that “One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin” (Gilman, 1999, p. 512) which symbolizes the senseless pattern of oppression directed towards the women. The lady confined to the room transitions to insanity while trying to find the hidden meaning of the wallpaper. She is not allowed to go out of her room on the name of taking her time to rest, while in reality she is being forced to live life in an unwanted manner (Baym, & Levine, 2011).
The short story has utilized the yellow wallpaper as the symbolism of women oppression. The pattern of oppression is recurrent, senseless but an important part of the society. It becomes the source of insanity of women by not allowing them freedom or acting or living their lives according to their will.
References
Baym, N., & Levine, R. S. (Eds.). (2011). The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Eighth International Student Edition. WW Norton & Company.
Gilman, C. P. (1999). The yellow wallpaper. Project Gutenberg: 511-523.
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